How to utilize JSONStudio with your ObjectRocket instance

By: John Moore

Posted on: May 21, 2014

JSONStudio and ObjectRocket, A match made in Java.

If you have ever worked with MySQL then you have probably used tools like PHPMyAdmin or MySQL Workbench to interface with the database and run ad-hoc queries or generate reports. These tools have been around for a long time and have matured over time to become valuable tools for the day to day interaction with MySQL. If you have ever searched for similar products for MongoDB then you should definitely take a look at JSONStudio by jSonar Inc. It is a web based front end to interact with any MongoDB implementation and offers features like query generation, reporting and even data visualization. JSONStudio is not just one tool but actually a suite of many different tools under one unified dashboard and I must say its list of features are impressive. The best part about this suite of tools is that it interfaces seamlessly with any ObjectRocket MongoDB instance.

To get started, head on over to http://jsonstudio.com/evaluate/ and download the free evaluation copy of the tool. I installed the version for Mac OS X but if you have Linux or Windows, those packages are listed as well. The installation guide can be found by hovering Resources in the navigation bar and selecting Guide. This will take you to the documentation for the current version of the software.

All the details you need to hook this up to an ObjectRocket instance can be found in the ObjectRocket Control Panel. First log in to https://app.objectrocket.com with your ObjectRocket username and password. Once authenticated you should see a list of instances like so:

I am going to be connecting to my JSONStudio instance and looking specifically at my JSONTest database. To get those connection details I first will click on my JSONStudio instance and then select the JSONTest database in the Databases section of my Instance Details page:

I then will need the SSL Connect String and a username from the Users section:

With the connection details in hand we can now connect JSONStudio to the instance. Fill in the relevant information into the login page like so:

Since I am connecting over SSL I need to check the use SSL box as this passes the correct flag to the driver under the hood to make a secure connection. I also chose the Secondary Preferred option so that my search queries will favor secondaries instead of the primary. This can help with performance if the primary is under a heavy write load, but be aware, as mentioned in the MongoDB documentation, reading from secondaries can return stale data in certain circumstances. Another thing to note is I selected to save the information I just entered such that I can quickly connect back another time. When you save the datasource it does not save the password, so you will have to type that every time.

Once you hit Login you should see a screen very similar to this:

That should get you started with using JSONStudio by jSonar Inc. with your ObjectRocket MongoDB Instance. If you run into any issues connecting to your instance please email support@objectrocket.com and we will be more than happy to help you get connected. Happy querying!